Sam Smith on His Weight Loss: 'I Went to Bed Dreaming of Tuna Melts'

David Fisher/Rex USA

Update: In September 2019, Sam Smith announced that they use they/them pronouns. This content was written in September 2015 before Smith publicly announced their pronouns.

Sam Smith‘s 2015 has had more than a few lonely hours, but the star is looking forward to the future.

In an interview with Today‘s Natalie Morales that aired Tuesday, the “Stay with Me” singer opened up about a variety of topics, from being bullied for his sexuality, to his nearly 50-lb. weight loss and recovery from vocal cord surgery this summer.

“It’s been a struggle to get through,” Smith, 23, said of his post-surgery life. “I’ve got to plan longer resting breaks in between shows,” he added, before joking, “I just need to stop writing songs that are too high to sing.”

Smith also addressed his dramatic weight loss in 2015: “My relationship with food has just completely changed,” he said. “During the process of this album [In the Lonely Hour], I just was getting bigger and bigger and bigger.”

Smith, who stepped out Tuesday evening in London for the GQ Men of the Year Awards, recalled being teased as a child for both his weight and his sexuality. But, he said, “When someone calls you gay, there’s not much you can do about that because I am. Whereas, if someone calls you fat, there is something you can do about that.”

Smith, who announced earlier Tuesday he’d been tapped to write the theme song for the newest James Bond film, Spectre, also admitted that old food habits die hard. “I went to bed last night dreaming of tuna melts,” he said. “I love food.”

As for his Bond gig, he added that it feels “very weird” but has been “a dream of mine for a long, long time.”